Ryan and Secretary, Department of Social Services (Social services second review)

This matter concerned a review of a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services regarding the rate of disability support pension (DSP) paid to Mrs Ryan. The dispute centred on whether Mrs Ryan had been paid at the correct rate during a specific period and whether a change in her circumstances had been properly recorded and acted upon by the Department. The review was heard by Mrs J C Kelly, Senior Member.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether Mrs Ryan had provided details of her financial circumstances to the Department in a timely manner between November 2015 and January 2016, whether the Department had failed to record this information, and consequently, whether Mrs Ryan had been underpaid her DSP. The Tribunal also had to consider the effect of section 109 of the *Administration Act* on the date from which any increased DSP entitlement could take effect, particularly in light of multiple decisions made by the Department and the timeframes for seeking review.

The Senior Member accepted Mrs Ryan's evidence that she had provided her bank account details to Centrelink during the period of November 2015 to January 2016, despite the absence of these records in the Department's files. The Senior Member found Mrs Ryan to be an honest witness and inferred that a recorded typing error in the Department's records indicated the information was provided in January 2016, not October 2016. While acknowledging that the Department accepted Mrs Ryan was paid a lower rate than entitled from February 2019, the Senior Member considered the application of section 109 of the *Administration Act*. The Senior Member accepted the Department's argument that, due to multiple reviewable decisions being made and the time elapsed since those decisions, any favourable determination would take effect from the date of application for review, which was 11 January 2019. Therefore, the decision under review was affirmed.